What preparations are being made for the 2025 local elections at the Center Party?

The Tallinn branch is starting to work on [candidate] lists, contacting people and recruiting new candidates. I believe the process is quite routine at this stage.

Could you drop a few names in terms of who might be Center's forerunners in major cities, such as Narva, Tartu, Pärnu and Tallinn?

Relevant discussions are underway. But I think we're not ready to communicate the results just yet.

Do you believe Narva Mayor Jaan Toots has done a good job and could stay in this post?

I believe Jaan Toots could stay on, but the decision is up to the voter. The elections will tell.

I would imagine Pärnu and Tartu being slightly more complicated places for Center.

They may be complicated in terms of our rating there being lower than it is in Tallinn. That said, we still have a year to go [until elections]. I see growing potential for us in different local governments, including Pärnu and Tartu.

I suppose you will be Center's mayoral candidate for Tallinn?

It would perhaps be less than procedural for me to say, as the head of the party, that I will run for mayor of Tallinn. Center's Tallinn branch will have to make that decision.

I will likely be Center's candidate for Tallinn mayor, but it would not be proper of me to officially announce it today.

Will Center struggle to keep its city council majority at the next elections or could it still happen?

I believe the Center Party will win the election [in Tallinn]. But it's hard to say by how much. Considering the status quo and recent events in Tallinn, Center will aim for the best possible result to avoid four parties pooling their resources with the sole purpose of keeping Center out of the city government, without offering anything conceptually new. Naturally, we will make an effort to avoid a repeat of this situation.

The current coalition has demonstrated that ruling with so many different sides is a little tricky. Could it be even more difficult over the long term? Would it be easier to rule the capital between just two strong partners? And could we, in this light, be talking about a Center-Reform coalition?

Any coalition between four partners serves the sole purpose of holding on to power. Its main motivation is to keep Center from it. This is not a constructive way to run a city, which the current situation in Tallinn demonstrates. It's not even politics so much as basic mathematics – fewer partners means more constructive and substantive agreements. Deals struck between four parties are often not what voters need or what Tallinn needs. The city needs systematic administration in the long term, not just until the next election. Developing major municipalities has to mean major goals and projects. And that is not something the current coalition can offer.

As former mayor, what do you find the city government has gotten completely wrong?

First of all, there is total consolidation. It would make sense to prioritize public service availability, taking into account different communities' needs, which is the course Center has always plotted. Now, we are seeing the desire to centralize social services. Moving child protection specialists under one roof is a very painful matter. Cultural institutions are being centralized. Sporting facilities will be next. We are seeing no effects analysis for any of it. No one can phrase the benefits this reform is supposed to deliver.

I believe the argument being made is greater efficiency. How would you counter?

Efficiency needs to be defined first. Making things more efficienct means cutting costs while retaining the same level of quality. None of our questions are being answered. All we're told is that there will be new executives and that it remains to be seen how efficiency will be achieved. That is not what you would call a systematic approach or a serious reform, if you start out with no idea of where you're going and what you aim to achieve. That is the main problem today, that there is no competent outlook for what is being done.

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